3) Right after graduating from NYU I came to study business, language and culture in Finland and I've been here since January 2003. I've been living with my Fishy and his family and watching their freaky cat be plain weird, day after day.

I've taken classes ranging from Management Information Systems, to Finnish Culture and Language, to digital media tools. The institutions that I've been studying at are the University of Helsinki, Arcada Polytechnic, and the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE).

The most recent set of courses I took was at HSE. I participated in the Digital Media track of their annual IT program. The 3-month program, which ended on August 29th, consisted of in class courses on Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, and a few other DM software goodies. We also worked on actual projects with various Finnish clients. Our client was Nokia and all I can say is that we did a DAMN good job on our project. The client was happy, we were happy. Wazooo!

Next I'll be taking some evening language classes starting in September and ending in November. And, hopefully I'll be able to find a temporary job while I'm here to supplement my study and living expenses, at least until I go home.

I'll be going home in November, just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. *sniffles* I don't want to leave my Fishy. Then again, I'm working on convincing him to find a job in CA. *g* Or at least to come visit over Xmas and New Year's so he can finally meet the family. They've been bugging us about when they can meet him since January and we agree that they've been patient enough. *l*

4) I've got a ton of online photo albums and an online journal about my life among the strange Finns that I've been updating since being here.
5) By the by, bureaucracy in Finnish Land is just as bad as the bureaucracy in the States. *sigh* I have had SO many issues dealing with the local immigration police here regarding resident permits and work permits. Hmph.

6) My prior plans to study language and culture in China while doing a business internship for 6 months or more have been put on hold for now. Living in Finland for longer than I had originally planned is eating into my money and I'm itching to not only get some real work experience but to also make and save up enough money to get myself a new laptop, and go on various trips planned for the future. (Originally, I was only going to be in Finnish Land until the end of May. Then that was extended to the end of August and now it's the middle of November. *l* I definitely won't be staying longer than that, though, since Mom & Dad are getting anxious for me to go back home and help out with the family business.)
So far, I've been printing out and reviewing job descriptions. The actual sending out of the applications will be happening soon. *nodsnods* Let's hope I manage to line something up for when I get home. That way I don't have to worry about it when I get home. *sighsigh*

7) As for goings on at home, well, I have no idea because no one ever TELLS me anything even though I ask them to email and keep in touch. *sniffles* Oh! I did find out that my parents went water rafting recently with some family in Medford, OR. And they're thinking of summering in Portland or Ashland one of these days. *l* Who would've thunk. I couldn't believe it at first. The idea of my parents doing something so….adventurous was surprising at first. Then I remember my cooky dad & mom and realize it's not so surprising after all. *amused*
I also know that we've finally sold the café after a couple of years of saying we would. *sniffs* It's sad to see it go, but I can understand my parents' reasons for selling it. It was getting to be too much of a hassle, especially with most of my dad's attention being taken up by redevelopment agency-related issues and such. Still, I will miss it. I loved making all those cool espresso drinks when I worked there. And doing the stocking definitely built up the muscles. *g*

Umm...well, I can't think of anything else. And I'm hungry so I want to eat….

Oh wait! I'm ORIGINALLY from San Jose, CA. *l* I'm weird and proud of it. Personally, I think my weirdness makes me SO cool and SO awesome.

Teehee.

Hmmm....should I add a bit more about my personal self? I think I will...

Let's see. Like I mentioned before, I live in CA. I live for food. I have a huge family that's spread out all over the place and I constantly seem to be finding out about new family I've never known about before. *l*

More immediately, I have 2 wonderful parents and my younger brother (aka Booger Butt), whom, along with the rest of my family, are very supportive of all that I do. Oh...and they're all just as crazy as I am. *nods*....*WG* And if you listen to me long enough, you'll eventually hear me going on and on and on about the 4 newest members to our clan: Kodi, Kaitlyn, Colin, and most recently, Jonathan. They're my babies! My sweet, adorable smoochy-kins! I miss my babies. *sniffles*

I'm definitely a globe trotter. I think that when I grow old and retire, I'm going to travel the world cooking and learning new cuisines. *g* Add to that my usual love of exploring anything new, hiking, drawing, reading, singing while taking loooong, steamy showers, skiing, etc. etc. and you've pretty much got someone who's got so many sides and interests that I feel too lazy to type them all up. *l*

I should post up my resume for people just to see what y'all think. *g* If there's one thing I've been lovingly called by family and friends, besides "Geek" or "Nerd" that is, it's over achiever. *tsks* I don't know WHY they accuse me of that! Really now!

I have horrid memory, like a certain Pooch / Fishy that I know. *weg* I'm one of those people who can do really well in a class b/c I remember the information that's necessary. But once the tests are over and I don't have to worry about grading, I purge the information of things that didn't interest me, like Geography. *l* Which is probably why I'm always saying "up here" instead of "down here," etc. Oh well. Just give me a map and I'll do fine. *nods*

Well, then. Can't really think of anything more to say, especially since I'm not supposed to be writing a novel here. Then again, maybe I'm just trying to outdo Lover Lou in the length of my bio. *g* After all, he's the only one I know of who posts as much as me when I get into one of my rare, posty moods. It makes sense, though, that my posts are so long. Since I don't post very often I have to cram all that's been going on since my last post into this one teeny tiny space! So there! HAH!